Here are my notes that I wrote down as I listened carefully to this AWESOME teaching!! :)*Bible verses are taken from the (NLT) version.

**********************************************************************************SHAME: A powerful emotion caused by a consciousness of guilt or shortcoming.So we hide ourselves in attempt to hide from SHAME.But God… sets us FREE! Jesus became a shame substitute for us. Anything Jesus took on we don't have to. =)"I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting."Isaiah 50:6Jesus submitted to shame."At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" Matthew 27:46Jesus suffered the shame of rejection.God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us!"Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed."Isaiah 53:4-5Jesus suffered for us!"Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit."1 Peter 3:18Jesus suffered once and for all!"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."2 Corinthians 5:21He knew NO sin!"God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced."Romans 9:33We must NOT be ashamed. We must believe that Jesus redeemed us! So believe Jesus and not the opinions of others."I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame."Isaiah 50:6-7The Lord has helped me!"Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins." Isaiah 40:1-2In the context of this verse, (OT) the shame of debt was covered up. Having a "double portion" isn't something to boast about. "He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross."Colossians 2:14In this NEW covenant context Jesus blotted out our shame! "Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor. You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." Isaiah 61:7Jesus gives us even better JOY! We're no longer in debt of our sins. Jesus paid for our debt in full.SHAME: is a sense of failure and unworthiness.Consequences of SHAME

Paranoia: looking at ourselves as a mistake and thinking others see us the same.

Extinguishes: our hopes and dreams. Shame robs our hope and becomes a weight for us to bear.

"He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."Genesis 3:10 Adam and Eve became shamed when they lost their coat of glory. What we fail to realize is that Adam didn't REPENT! He didn't go to God and ask for forgiveness because the enemy SHAMED him! Shame embedded pride and caused Adam to fall victim to Satan. He didn't feel worthy to go back to God. He let the enemy take advantage of his relationship with The Father. Nowadays, Satan uses "shame" as a tactic to keep us from going to the next step our lives too...WOW! What a powerful lesson on "SHAME." We need not to allow the enemy to constantly remind us of our past. We must rely on the bible alone for our true identity. Jesus paid for our sins in full. We don't have to constantly plead God to forgive us of our sins. The Lord's Prayer (that mentions Jesus asking for forgiveness) was a model prayer before Jesus went to the cross. Our past, present, and future sins are forgiven! We aren't just sinners saved by Grace. The bible says in (2 Cor 5:21) that we are the righteousness of God. We have become NEW creations (Gal 2:20/2 Cor 5:17). God sees His beloved child when He looks at "born-again" believers. We don't need to feel shamed or allow anyone or any demon to make us feel that way! (Romans 1:16) says that we are to have UNASHAMED FAITH!! (Hence, the title of my blog!)

Sunday, September 18, 2016

God gave me a vision in my dream. I don't remember much of what happened. Although, I do remember God revealing Psalm 90:12 & Psalm 90:17. As you know, I just released my first book "Bible Journey!" I faced opposition while writing of course. Days before publishing my book, I saw a vision of Jesus walking down a narrow path and telling me to follow. And before this God gave me a vision prior to this one. All that I remember is seeing multiple rainbows. So, I tied all of these visions into one and came up with my book cover. The rainbow represents God's promise as we Christians know (Genesis 9). The bible is the Word of God and all God's Words are promises (Psalm 89:34-35). The footsteps mean to follow after Jesus; taking up your cross daily and surrendering to His Will (Luke 9:23). God is a creative genius! I just love Him!

Without further ado, let's study Psalm 90:12 (NLT)

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom."

Our keywords in this verse are "brevity" and "wisdom." Brevity means "shortness of human life." And wisdom means "the quality of having good experience, knowledge and judgement."

Life is short. Psalm 90:4 reads "For You, 1,000 years are a passing day, as brief as a few night hours." In my words, eternity ain't got nothing on this life! Therefore, we have to make every moment count. We ought to give God glory in all that we do. We should seek Him in everything. God should be first period. Life is not our own. We were created to serve the Lord. Life makes more sense and is more meaningful when we live for the Lord. ♥

Here's how my 'Life Application Study Bible' defined Psalm 90:12 -

"Realizing that life is short helps us use the little time we have more wisely and for eternal good. Take time to number your days by asking, What do I want to see happen in my life before I die? What small step could I take toward that purpose today?"

Psalm 90:17 - "And may the Lord our God show us His approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!"

Amen! What a scripture! God will bless the works of our hands. He gives us hearts desire. We can have what we say and what we believe in Him for. Faith without works is dead. When we combine our faith with works we see manifestation. *But faith is the most important factor.*

---We have to study the context of this chapter. Moses is the author of this psalm. Today, we are under a new covenant of Grace and not under the law of Moses. So I can speak things into existence and not have to make pleas with God. I can just receive them by faith by confession and belief. Hallelujah! Today's Christians can be filled with the Holy Spirit to walk in full victory! No need to beg God. I just confess: "My ministry is prosperous in the Name of Jesus!" "I'm blessed and highly favored in the Name of Jesus!" Amen.

This verse comforts me so much. In my current season, I'm putting into motion all that God has been teaching me. It's not that easy. There's adversity. But, I have to count it all joy! God sees my heart. I work for the Lord. I just want to serve Him and give Him glory in all that I do.

Here's the note from my study bible on this verse: "Because our days are numbered, we want our work to count, to be effective and productive. We desire to see God's eternal plan revealed now and for our work to reflect His permanence. If we feel dissatisfied with this life and all its imperfections, we must remember our desire to see our work established is placed there by God. But our desire can only be satisfied in eternity. Until then we must apply ourselves to loving and serving God."

Interesting... Jesus came to give us abundant life. Don't get me wrong, life is enjoyable and awesome when we live to serve God. But, still our ultimate hope is seeing Jesus face to face in heaven. That's our home and our hope. The goal is to hear Him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You may enter in!"

"We should remember our place and be submissive to God. Our time on earth is limited so let's use it wisely. Don't live for the moment. Keep your enteral home in mind!" - Life application study bible (Psalm 90)

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

So lately I've been mediating on the big "F" known as "Forgiveness…"God says that we must be quick to forgive everyone if we expect Him to do the same for us. Forgiveness is the greatest expression of love (in my opinion). God could have destroyed us. Yet, He forgave us because He loved us. He sent His Son, Jesus as the ultimate form of sacrifice. While Jesus hung on the cross, He asked His Father to forgive His enemies. I don't know anyone in the world other than Jesus that will die for an enemy. It's just strange! That type of love can't even be explained.If Jesus can forgive frienemies then we CAN forgive anyone! Some of the folks that He healed turned His back on Him and wanted Him to be crucified. Even Judas, His close friend and disciple betrayed Him for money and kissed Him on the cheek like all was well! Knowing how imperfect I am… I would've knocked Judah's butt to the ground. SMH! But not Jesus. He's perfect! He's our greatest example. He let Judah and everyone else go on with their evil plans so that Jesus can complete His good plans. So If Jesus can forgive his enemies then, we "born-again believers" NEED to do the same. Forgive everyone even if this includes forgiving yourself… It's possible only with God.When we forgive we must forget. It's not true forgiveness if you keep dwelling on the past and bringing it back up against that person. How would we feel if Jesus stood before God at Judgment Day testifying against us? No, He finished our sins once and for all. God "The Father" will never bring them up again. He casts them far away. We don't have to fear His judgment. We can come boldly into his presence because Jesus is our mediator. Satan cannot stand in God's court trying to accuse us. Thanks to Jesus for providing forgiveness of our sins through His shed blood. *HALLELUJAH!*God went the extra mile for us when He gave us the NEW covenant of Grace: JESUS! So, we ought to forgive quickly… I used to "kind of" understand forgiveness. But I didn't quite have it all down packed. I would convince myself that I forgave someone. Although, I would never forget the damage that they did. This is not true forgiveness. You know that you really forgave someone when you can have peace when you think of them and not get upset. So Let It God! Don't keep thinking about the ROUGH OLD UGLY PAST! If we kept confessing the SAME sins to God, we would "tick Him off." He doesn't even remember them. In my marriage, when we have arguments aka "disagreements" we aren't suppose to keep bringing up our mistakes. If we do, the relationship will indeed cause confusion. I've learned to just let things go and give it to God.

I rather have His peace than the devil's chaos!

Another thing that I learned in this forgiveness thing… is that we don't always have to become friends again after forgiving them. Yes, some friendships and relationships are worth fighting for. But most aren't. Especially in my case. I don't want to be friends with my ex in real life or social media. We were never good friends from the beginning. We were unequally yoked so nothing ever worked out. Maybe, you need to fix some broken relationships but be careful who you let back into your life. Everyone isn't meant to be in your future. In the bible, we didn't see Jesus begging Judas to change his ways and be his friend. Nah, He let him go and make his own choices. Judas chose to be friends of the world. As a result, he lost Jesus' friendship. I use to chase people down so that they could be my friend. When I got saved I went out of my way to force people to stay my friend when God said that the seasonal friendship was up! I ended up getting hurt a whole lot worse. And my heart became hardened to the point where forgiveness wasn't easy. It's important to just obey God. Forgive people and let some folks GO!!! A tip that I learned is to: pray for your enemies. My ex-boyfriend had me bent like fake jewelry LOL. I couldn't stand him. But most importantly, I hated that he still had power in my life (even years after our ugly break-up(s). When I heard his name or seen him on social media, I would experience the pain that he once gave me all over again. I hated that he had power to turn my joy into sadness. My unforgivness opened up a door for Satan to come in and steal my joy. I was tired of this mess. If I didn't end this, it would open a door for Satan to come into my marriage. And I wasn't having it!! I love God and my man of God way too much to ruin our relationships. It was time to take this pain away and truly forgive.It was time that I begin to pray over my ex-bf. I had to pray how Jesus prays though! Jesus prayed to God and asked Him to forgive His enemies because they didn't know what they were doing. I wanted to pray over my ex and say "Lord, send this boy to Hell please!" But the Holy Spirit wouldn't let me. I had to pray like a BORN AGAIN BELIEVER BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT! I said something in the lines of: "I forgive this man. I pray that he forgives me too. Blood of Jesus cover him. He is a man after you own heart, committed, respectful, successful, and honest. I command all strongholds of the enemy to be released from him in the Name of Jesus." I prayed similar prayers a few more times in that season. And guess what? I felt better! A weight was released!! He ended up following me on social media. I only allowed it so that he could see my faith based posts (Because he needs some Jesus in his life). After a short while, I had to block him. I just didn't see the need to be friends. I hope that he finds Jesus so that he doesn't burn in Hell (where we all belong). But I just don't WANT to be friends. I planned a seed. Someone else can water it. It doesn't have to be ME. Why should you be friends with anyone who did you NO good? Unless you're married, you aren't obligated to reconcile relationships. Carry on. My prayers worked because I have a relationship with Jesus by faith. He will become a real deal christian one of these days. But he obviously didn't change after all of these years. He was still with the crap and I was just done praying for Him. Once you pray and seal it with "IN JESUS NAME" then, it goes right up to Heaven if you believe. God heard my prayer and seen my forgiving heart. The devil no longer has any power or influence in my life! I forgave my biggest enemy and I learned what it is to love and pray for people. (Even if you just pray 1 time) I had to pray several times because I disobeyed God and had a lot of bad seeds to uproot so that I could grow.Today, I was inspired by Jeremiah 11:14 (NLT): “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress."We can't keep praying for people who just don't get it. They need Jesus. No one can convict another person other than, the Holy Spirt. Like Judas, they have to make their own decisions to choose Jesus over the world. People of satan's world don't understand The WORD of God. Pray for them and move on to the next. Don't let the devil confuse you. Do the will of God: Love, forgive, pray and move on to the next telling them about the love of God.

I've done my part. His his choice to be a fool or to get to know God. I'm done trying. I forgave and finally obeyed the Lord. All is well with my soul. Thank You, Jesus for being my greatest example in everything. I love You forever!

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